However, this wasn’t a complete runaway win for Delong. For the first three laps of the race, Ricky Russell would hold the second-place position, never more than two seconds behind Delong. Meanwhile, Ryder Lafferty, who was trying XC1, would hold the third-place position, then eventually find his way into the second place spot, all the way to the white flag. Lafferty won the opening two rounds in the XC2 class and had been able to land some other solid top five finishes, but a few struggles had taken him out of championship contention in the XC2 class, so Lafferty used this race to make his XC1 debut. He did so in style by running in podium contention for nearly the whole race!

Meanwhile, Steward Baylor would be left working his way through the pack. This is nothing new for Stu as we’ve seen him battle through the field to take race wins before, but this time disaster would strike. Baylor had worked his way into the top five by the fifth lap but would unfortunately suffer a broken shock bolt. Stu would exit the racecourse mid-lap to return to the pits, which would cost him quite a bit of time. They got the bolt replaced fairly quickly, but Stu still had to ride back to where he exited the racecourse to re-enter, which cost more time.

By the time it was all said and done, Baylor sat outside the top 20 overall with just a few laps remaining. The GNCC National Championship is determined by racer’s overall finishes, and not the XC1 class points. This is done because, technically, an XC2 (or XC3, or even an Amateur rider for that matter) could score the most points in the overall and win the GNCC Championship. If you beat everyone overall, you deserve the title no matter what class you’re in! Thus, in order to score overall points for the title, a racer must finish inside the top 20 overall.

When the checkered flag flew, Craig Delong would take the win while Ricky Russell and Josh Strang battled down to the wire. Lafferty suffered a crash on the final lap that would take him out of podium contention, and Strang had worked his way from eighth place on the final lap, to end the day in third place, just over one second behind Russell in second. As for Baylor, he would work his way back to 19^th overall, scoring just two-points for a devastating day.

However, the championship battle is still not over as one round remains at Ironman. Delong holds a 23-point lead over Baylor, and while Delong is incredibly consistent, anything can happen, and Baylor’s race at the Buckwheat is a prime example of that. Baylor is no stranger to taking the Ironman win, and if he were to claim the win and Delong would have a bad day, finishing 14^th overall or worse, the championship would go to Baylor. On the flip side of that, Delong just needs to finish inside the top 13 positions overall. Delong has not finished worse than 11^th overall all season, but crazier things have happened!

XC2 CHAMPIONSHIP STILL UP FOR GRABS TOO!

The XC2 class has seen quite the championship battle as well. Throughout the entire season, the XC2 class has produced seven different winners of its own, but as the season progressed, Liam Draper has been able to step up and establish himself as one of the championship favorites. He had some serious challenges earlier in the season from Ruy Barbosa, but unfortunately Barbosa suffered a leg injury during the GNCC summer break and has been sidelined for the final three rounds this season, ending his championship hopes. Even so, Draper still hasn’t been able to quite run away with the championship, as Angus Riordan still has a mathematical shot at the championship heading into Ironman.

At the Buckwheat, Draper would control the lead for the majority of the race, but Riordan really made him work for it! Through the entire race, Riordan stayed close to Draper’s rear wheel and even wrestled the lead away on lap three. Eventually Draper won by just over a second ahead of Riordan while Mason Semmens would round out the podium in third, just two second behind Riordan!

Heading into the season finale, Draper holds the XC2 points lead by 18-points over Riordan. Riordan would need Draper to finish tenth place or worse to win the title if he wins the race. While 10^th place is Draper’s worst finish of the season, he’s actually only finished off the podium three times in 2023. So, much like the XC1 battle, the math doesn’t look good for anyone but the points leader, but crazier things have happened. This sets up two epic championship battles for the Ironman season finale, which is also a favorite track of most riders, and is the largest race of all in terms of turnouts, for both riders and spectators. Add that all in and this promises to be a good one!